Science and expertise right now are central to financial competitiveness, nationwide safety, strategic autonomy, and geopolitical affect. At the identical time, rising and frontier applied sciences are advancing quicker than the governance programs designed to handle them. This widening hole between innovation and governance presents one of many defining world challenges of our time.
It is due to this fact important to handle modern problems with Science and Technology (S&T) Diplomacy within the bigger context of international coverage deliberations. With this mandate, the Raisina Science and Diplomacy Initiative (SDI) was established as a flagship monitor underneath the Raisina Dialogue 2026 by the Observer Research Foundation and the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. The initiative seeks to advance a forward-looking and pragmatic agenda on science and expertise diplomacy in an more and more fragmented and aggressive world panorama.
The discussions on the inaugural SDI, held on 5 March 2026, underscored the fact that science diplomacy is now not merely a instrument of soppy energy however is quick turning into a core governance crucial. As applied sciences more and more form financial resilience, strategic affect, and societal transformation, science diplomacy frameworks should evolve to handle the governance challenges related to dual-use and disruptive applied sciences.
At the identical time, the evolving expertise panorama requires science diplomacy frameworks that stability strategic autonomy with scientific openness and worldwide collaboration. The rising affect of non-state actors, together with large-scale expertise corporations, can be reshaping world governance and standards-setting. This requires a extra inclusive, adaptive, and accountable science diplomacy structure supported by a revitalised and extra consultant multilateral system of governance.
This report captures the important thing strategic insights rising from the inaugural version of the Raisina Science and Diplomacy Initiative. It is our hope that these insights contribute to constructing a extra pragmatic, inclusive, and future-ready science diplomacy framework for the world.
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